Seeing the short player open his mouth, the village chief's expression suddenly changed drastically, and he actually pressed his eyes right up to the short player's face.
His hoarse voice sounded somewhat distorted, and his veins bulged as if something was about to burst out of his body: "You don't mean you don't want to eat, do you?"
The short player promptly swallowed his words and shook his head frantically.
He's not stupid; he absolutely cannot fall into such an obvious death trap again!
"I...I'll eat it!"
Then his hands trembled, and he looked as if he were facing certain death.
After searching for a long time, I finally found a seemingly normal wild vegetable in the plate, picked it out, and slowly put it into my mouth.
"Hmm... um?"
A moment later, the short player blinked. How come he was alright? And it even tasted pretty good!
Then the short man looked at the table again. There was no strange, dark cuisine at all. What he ate was clearly a plate of normal wild vegetables.
Is it a hallucination?
The shorter player breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he hadn't been stubborn, otherwise the illusion would have triggered the NPC's anger, which would have been a huge loss.
The other players seemed to understand something from each other's expressions, and one by one they showed knowing looks.
So, after being urged by the village chief, he picked up the dishes on the table and started eating without changing his expression.
Xiao Jin also put the braised pork on her chopsticks into her mouth.
—Unexpectedly, the meat was tender and the taste was surprisingly normal, even with a hint of sweetness.
"Huh? It's not bad at all?" someone exclaimed in surprise.
"It looks scary, but the taste is okay... uh!" The player had just finished speaking when he saw the normal food in front of him and was speechless.
You can't believe you can do that? This is just trying to scare people!
Now that they understood, everyone stopped being so paranoid and started talking in hushed tones, their tense nerves relaxing a little.
But Xiao Jin did not miss the fleeting, eerie smile on the village chief's lips.
Hallucination?
No, it's probably a trap!
After the group had eaten and drunk their fill, they watched the 'kind' village chief leave the guesthouse, and the players finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sigh, I finally managed to get through that meal, but I don't know if I'll be so lucky next time."
After speaking, the player immediately turned his gaze to the shorter player.
The short player, his face ashen, didn't utter a word and strode upstairs.
No wonder he was unhappy.
Ultimately, he was just incredibly unlucky, becoming cannon fodder for the other players to test the waters. Even now, the small player still can't understand why the village chief would target him.
If he's going to be polite by picking up food for someone, shouldn't he also pick up food for that pretty boy?
Xiao Jin, the pretty boy: ...
In the restaurant on the first floor.
Seeing the short player leave angrily, many players curled their lips into a sarcastic smile.
Immediately afterwards, a small number of players chose to return to their rooms, but most chose to wander around the village.
Firstly, to familiarize myself with the environment, and secondly, to see if I could find any clues.
As soon as Xiao Jin stepped outside, he encountered Sui Feng and several other players.
"I knew you wouldn't go back to sleep." Sui Feng laughed heartily. "So, want to come along?"
"Well, let's go scout ahead together," she said casually.
The group walked together, slowly along the stone-paved path in the village.
Along the way, Xiao Jin and his companions encountered many villagers. The villagers greeted them warmly as always, but their smiles... seemed painted on their faces, stiff and deliberate.
“Just walking around like this won’t work.” Sui Ying rested her chin on her hand, her eyes suddenly lighting up. “How about we try to get some information from the villagers?”
"Alright, it's up to you then." Sui Feng patted his sister on the shoulder.
Unfortunately, Sui Feng was a big, burly man, and sometimes when he spoke loudly, it sounded like a black bear roaring. So, it was always his younger sister, Sui Ying, who did the work of getting close to him.
After all, who can resist a pretty, petite, and adorable girl!
Soon after, Sui Ying skillfully found a charity-oriented elderly woman, and after chatting and laughing for three to five minutes, Sui Ying returned skipping and hopping.
"How is it?" Sui Feng asked impatiently.
"Oh dear, why are you in such a hurry? I haven't even asked yet."
"What? You were gone for so long?"
Sui Ying glared at Sui Feng, annoyed: "Do you think everyone is as lacking in emotional intelligence as you?"
"The NPCs here aren't easy to get information out of. It took me a lot of effort to get to know her, and I even gave her an item. Remember to get it back to me when we get back."
Upon hearing this, Shao Siyuan on the other side quickly said, "Don't worry, we will definitely compensate you for the items, after all, the mission belongs to everyone." The other players also nodded.
"Ha, at least there are still a few normal people." Sui Ying waved her hand: "Don't worry, I came here to take you all with me."
No matter what I say, it's definitely not as true as hearing it with your own ears!
The group exchanged glances and then followed Sui Ying over.
"Look, this is Grandma Liu. Grandma Liu is an elderly woman in the village," Sui Ying introduced.
"Hehehe~ I'm just a wretched old woman!" Granny Liu's wrinkled face scrunched up: "What do you gentlemen think of our village?"
"good!"
"Very good, the scenery is beautiful and the people are very welcoming..."
Before long, everyone became familiar with Granny Liu, and under Sui Ying's cover, they began to extract information from her.
"Grandma, where is the ancestral worship ceremony held?"
Grandma Liu squinted her cloudy eyes and pointed her withered fingers at the distant mountains and forests: "There's an ancient temple in the mountains... a temple that's over a hundred years old. Our Guxing Village has been holding religious ceremonies there for generations."
"Then... what is the content of the sacrifice?" Sui Feng pressed.
Grandma Liu suddenly grinned, revealing her uneven, yellow teeth: "Sacrifice...of course, it's offering sacrifices to the gods, what else can it be?"
After saying that, she seemed unwilling to talk any further, and with her back hunched, she slowly left the place.
Xiao Jin stared at her back and suddenly felt a chill from behind.
No, someone is watching her.
She turned around abruptly, her gaze sweeping over the houses, trees, and alleyways in the village...
But there was no one around, and the feeling of being watched seemed to have disappeared.
But Xiao Jin was certain that what had just happened was not because she was being too sensitive; there must have been someone watching her in the dark.
The other players did not notice Xiao Jin's unusual behavior, nor did she tell Sui Ying and the others about it.
After strolling around the entire village, the group returned to the guesthouse.
In the evening, the villagers brought dinner again.
This time the food was even more "lavish"—a few finger-like knuckles floated in the stew, the milky white brains in the casserole were still bubbling, and tiny worms were mixed in with the vegetable salad, making it look extremely disgusting.
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